Massage device



J\`me12',1945.4 H SNYDER` 2,378,335-

MASSAGE DEVICE Filed Nov. l1, 194:5

A m @A Lelan /Svgydet lPatented June l2, 1945 UNITED PATENT- I OFFICE yn l2,378,335 l f L- v MASSAGE DEVICE -I Leland HQSnyder, Lincolnwood,Ill., assignor to ,Quality Hardware and Machine Corporation,

Chicago, vIll.,ha corporation of Illinois y Application November 1,1943, Serial No. 508,473

teams. (01.123441) This invention relates to electric massage deviceadapted to be carried on the back of apersons hand and ofa floatingsolenoid controlled f broken away and indicating the vertical vibratoryoperation of the supporting spring in dotted lines and also indicatingin dotted lines the position of the supporting spring when depressed.

t As shown in the drawing:

The improved massage device comprises a base or applicator unit on whichan adjustable spring supporting means is mounted for carrying avibration producer,` preferably of an electrically operated type. Thebase or applicator unit comprises an arched or convex back plate orplatform I constructed of metal or other suitable material and havingintegral side flanges 2 to It is also an object of this invention toprovide n an improved electrically operated typev of massage device byinterposing an adjustable resilient vibration transmitting means betweenthe Vibration producing unit and the applicator means on which it issupported. 3 f

It is furthermorean object of this'invention to provide an improved andsimplified form of a solenoid type of massage vdevice wherein a solenoidunit is mounted on a vspring support carried by the applicator to whichthe-vibrations are transmitted at an increased rate;

Another object of the invention is to yprovide an electric massagedevice of a floating'solen'oid type rfor transmitting vibrations to anvapplicator through an adjustably mounted arched spring support on whichthe solenoid is carried.

It is an important object' of this invention to provide a massage devicewherein a spring support carried by an applicator base serves as asupport for a vibration producer to increase the eiiiciency of themassage device".

Other objects and features of the invention will be apparent from thefollowing description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawingwhich illustrates a preferred embodiment of the invention.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of an improved massage deviceembodying the principles ofA this invention.

Figure 2 is an end elevational view of the massage device with partsbroken away. n y

Figure 3 is a vertical sectional view of the massage device taken online lIII--IIIy of Figure 2 withparts shown in elevation.

Figure 4 isl a bottom plan `view of the massage device. t

Figure 5 is an enlarged side viewof thev lower portionl of the massagedevicewith thejcasing form a channel cross-sectioned back member.Rigidly secured within the platform or applicator back formed by themembers I and 2 is a hand or finger protecting pad 3 formed ofkcushion-like material, as for example sponge rubber or the like. Thesponge rubber pad 3 is of a curved or arched form as clearly illustratedin Figure 3 and is adapted to be engaged over the back of the first,second and third ngers of a persons hand, on which it is removably heldby means of a pair of coiled retaining and vibration transmittingsprings 4 which are arranged in parallel relation, as shown in yFigure4, across the bottom of the pad 3. The ends of the coiled retainingsprings 4 are bent to form hooks whichengage in apertured tongues orprojections 5 which are integrally formed on the ends of the back plateor platform I. AWhen the applicator base is engaged on the back of thengers'of a persons hand the springs 4 pass downwardly across the palmside of the fingers to resiliently holdthe applicator pad in positionand permitting the fingers to receive the vibrations and serve asapplicators.

Disposed upon the top convex surface of the back plate I is an archedresilient support or spring member 6 forming a strap or plate spring ofmetal or other suitable material and having one end thereof curved ordeflected upwardly to form a flange 'I and affording a rounded invertedridge or movable support 8 which is adapted to have imparted thereto arapid vertically reciprocating movement when vibratory impulses areimparted thereto, as hereinafter more fully7 described. The free end ofthe supporting spring 6 is also permitted to movebackwardly andforwardly on the top surface of the back plate I when the spring iscompressed and released.

As shown in Figures 1 and 2, a substantially flat end piece orsupporting plate 9 is integrally formed on one end of the archedsupporting lspring 6 and is provided with a pair of parallel slots Ill`through which retaining screws II are l engaged to project into the backplate I to rigidly hold one end of the supporting spring 6 mounted inposition upon the applicator base while the other end is free. The slotsI are provided so that when the screws I I are loosened the effectivelength of the supporting spring may be adjusted or varied by sliding thespring in one direction or the other to increase or shorten the majoropelectric plug which serves as a means for connecting the massagedevice with a source of electrical energy for operating the solenoidmechanism.

The4 solenoid unit includes an axially disposed solenoid core or plungerI5 which projects downwardly through the bottom member of the solenoidframe I2. Engaged on the lower threadedl portion` of the solenoidcore orplunger I5 is an inner nut I6 which forms a support for the lower end ofa coiled tension. spring ITI engagedv aroundthe solenoid plunger andhaving the upper end thereof freely sea-ted against the bottom of thesolenoid supporting frame I2. The lower end of the solenoid plunger t5projects through an opening in the supporting spring 6 and is tightlysecured to said spring 6 by means of an outer nut i8 which is threaded.onto the end of the solenoidv plunger I5 and against the bottom surfaceof the supporting spring 6 so that the nuts I5 andy I8 hold the solenoidunit securely mounted' on the resilient movable spring which affords: afloating support for the solenoid unit above the` applicator base.

Asclearly shown in Figure 3, the lower end of the solenoid plunger orcore I5, below the nut. IB, projectsfthrough an opening iin the backplate I of the base unit and into a recess I9 formed in the top centralportion of the rubber pad 3'. This construction permits verticalmovement of the solenoid plunger I5 when the solenoid coil unit I 3 isenergized by connecting the current supply wires I4 with a suitablesource; of electrical energy.

The floating solenoid mechanism together with the adjustably mountedintermediate supporting spring 6 are adapted to bey enclosed' by meansof a removable typeof housing or cover 20 constructed of plastic orother suitable material. In the selected form illustrated, the housing20' is of substantially bell shape but hav-lng flat sidesV which extenddownwardly and are shaped to fit over` the side flanges 2` of the blackplate or platform I'. The housing orl cover 2li has springV re tainingclips 24 formed on the lower margins of the side walls thereof to permitthe cover to be spring snapped into place on the base unit of themassage device. The lower portion of the housing 2D is provided with anotch or other suitable outlet to permit the cord 2| formed by the wiresI4, to project out of the housing and' allowing a plug 22 on the end ofthe cord to be plugged into an electric socket when it is desired tooperate the massage device. If preferred, an. electric control switch 23of. any standard type may be connected in the electric cord 2| at aconvenient location for controlling the operation of the massage device.

The operation of the device is very simple, merely requiring that aperson about to use the device slip the rst three fingers of a handunderneath the rubber pad 3 with the retaining springs 4 passingdownwardly from the back of the hand across the palm side of the threelingers, thereby resiliently holding the massage device in positionready for use. The plug 22 at the end of the l electric cord formed bythe wires I4 is then inserted into an electric socket to permit analternating current to flow through the solenoid coil to operate thesolenoid plunger and cause vibrations to be transmitted from thesolenoid unit to the spring support 6. When the solenoid coil isenergized the core or plunger I5 is axially reci'pro'cated and acts torapidly vibrate the free end of the spring support 6 to produce a rapidwhipping action, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig-ure 5, therebytransmitting the vibrations to the back plate or platform I, from whichthe vibrations are transferred'` to' the coiled applicator springs 4 andto the fingers of the operators hand, which may be used as a massagingapplicator to be moved over the parts of a persons body Whi-ch requiremassaging. The vibrations transmitted to the hand on which the massagedevice is mounted may of course also be transmitted through the masseurshand to the parts of the body of another person requiring treatment.

When the-solenoid supporting spring 6 is actuated by the. solenoidplunger and the pressure on the spring 6 is suflicient to depress thespring the free end thereof is caused to slide outwardly on the back ofthe platform I, as shown in dotted linesin Figure 5.

To stop the operation ofthe massage device it is only necessary to pullyout the plug from the electric socket. When the cord 2l is equipped witha switch 23, the switch key may be operatedI to stop the operation ofthe device.

It. has been found that by providing a iioating mounting for thesolenoid unit b-y the 'use of a spring` support above the baseapplicator unit the number of vibrations transmitted by the device issubstantially twice that obtainable by the old method of mounting thesolenoid directly on the back plate or platform I., thereby producing amore eiiicient massage device. Since the solenoid plunger or core I5 hasthe lower end thereof so disposed that it will pass through an openingin thev platform back plate I and into the recess i9 in thefpad 3., thevibrations from the solenoid unit are transmitted through the springsupport 6, which serves as a sort of a floating support for the solenoidunit as well as a means for transmitting the. vibrations to? the baseplatform and the vcoiled mounting springsr 4 for transmittal tothenger's of an operators, hand.

Attention is also called to the fact that the 4length of the springsupport 6 between the mounting screws I I and the movable curved end 8thereof may be varied by loosening the screws and shifting the springsupport into a desired position to lengthen or shorten the eiectivelength of the spring support, after which the screws II may be tightenedto hold the at end 9.V of the spring stationary. By this adjustment ofthe supporting spring B the intensity or the number of vibrationstransmitted by .the spring 6` to the applicator base of the device maybe wide range without departing fromthe principles of this invention nand it is, therefore, not the purpose to limit the patent granted hereonotherwise than necessitated by the scope of the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a massage device wherein an operators hand is used as anapplicator for applying and transmitting vibratory motions, said devicecomi prising a pad carrying unit, means for supporting the same on theoperators hand, an arched spring support having one end secured to theunit and the other end freely movable with respect to said unit, and asolenoid unit carried on the spring support and operable to produce andtransmit vibrations vto the spring-support for transmittal thereby tothe resilient pad carrying unit, the supporting means and to theoperators hand for application to parts to be massaged.

tor, said device comprising .a platform, a cushioning pad carriedthereby, apertured extensions on the ends of said platform, extensiblemembers connected to said extensions and passing underneath the pad forholding the device seated on the fingers of a persons hand, an archedsupportingy spring having one end free for movement with respect tov theplatform, said spring having parallel slots in the other end portion,.

fastening meansk extending through said slots and into the platform tohold one end of the spring secured in place, said fastening meansadapted to be loosened to permit shifting of the spring for varying theeffective length thereof, and an electric plunger type solenoid unitabove the spring and having the plunger thereof secured thereto totransmit vibrations to said spring for transmittal to the platform andsaid extensible members and thence to the fingers of the operators hand.

3. A hand supported massage device comprising avibration transmittingbase for mounting on an operators hand, a floating vibration producingmeans above the base, and a spring support for said means having one endsecured to the base and the other end free to be Whipped into contactwith the base to transmit the vibrations thereto for transmittal to theoperators hand.

4. A massage device comprising an arched spring, an applicator basesecured to one end thereof', and means carried on the springintermediate the ends thereof for Whipping one end of the spring intocontact with said base to transmit vibrations thereto for massagingpurposes.

LELAND H. SNYDER.

